NDA plans a memorial for Narasimha Rao

The legacy of P.V. Narasimha Rao, the first Congress prime minister outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, is set to be refurbished under the new dispensation in New Delhi. The NDA government has decided to build a memorial, honouring him as the architect of the country’s economic reforms.

The Urban Development Ministry is learnt to have forwarded a proposal for cabinet approval to construct a memorial ghat for Rao as the harbinger of economic liberalisation at the Ekta Sthal Samadhi Complex in New Delhi.

Ekta Sthal also houses the memorial of former president Giani Zail Singh, whose term as the president was full of controversies, mainly due to his sour relations with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

NDA ally Telugu Desam Party sees this move as the NDA’s attempt to embarrass the Congress leadership, which had consigned Rao to oblivion.

In 2013, the Congress-led government had disapproved the demand for separate memorials, and the cabinet decided to establish common memorials due to the lack of space.

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